Teleconference system and terminal apparatus

ABSTRACT

A teleconference system includes an audio data receiving section, a group information holding section, and an audio controller. The audio data receiving section receives audio data obtained by multiple terminal apparatuses of multiple users who participate in a conference. The group information holding section holds group information indicating multiple groups. The groups are obtained by grouping the users of the terminal apparatuses. Any of the terminal apparatuses is referred to as a certain terminal apparatus. Each of the groups includes one or more users. The audio controller controls volumes of sound output of the audio data independently for the respective groups based on the group information held by the group information holding section. The audio data is received by the audio data receiving section.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/531,127, filed on Aug. 5, 2019, now allowed, which claimsthe priority benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-153276,filed on Aug. 16, 2018. The entirety of each of the above-mentionedpatent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and madea part of this specification.

BACKGROUND (i) Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a teleconference system and a terminalapparatus.

(ii) Related Art

An online conference may be held by using the terminal apparatuses ofconference participants connected through a telephone line or the like.Typically, in a conference, some conference participants may form asubgroup, and opinions may be exchanged on a specific topic whichdiverts from the discussion flows of a different subgroup and the entireconference. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0069643A1discloses a technique of the related art in which, in a telephoneconference, private subgroups and public subgroups of conferenceparticipants are formed.

When a subgroup is formed in an online teleconference, a conferenceparticipant may feel uncomfortable with sounds and videos of a subgroupother than the subgroup in which the conference participantparticipates.

SUMMARY

Aspects of non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure relate toa technique of differentiating between outputs from subgroups in anonline teleconference and making a user differentiate easily between thesubgroup, in which the user participates, and the other subgroups,compared with the configuration enabling subgroups of conferenceparticipants to be simply formed.

Aspects of certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosureaddress the above advantages and/or other advantages not describedabove. However, aspects of the non-limiting embodiments are not requiredto address the advantages described above, and aspects of thenon-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure may not addressadvantages described above.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided ateleconference system including an audio data receiving section, a groupinformation holding section, and an audio controller. The audio datareceiving section receives audio data obtained by multiple terminalapparatuses of multiple users who participate in a conference. The groupinformation holding section holds group information indicating multiplegroups. The groups are obtained by grouping the users of the terminalapparatuses. Any of the terminal apparatuses is referred to as a certainterminal apparatus. Each of the groups includes one or more users. Theaudio controller controls volumes of sound output of the audio dataindependently for the respective groups based on the group informationheld by the group information holding section. The audio data isreceived by the audio data receiving section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described indetail based on the following figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the entire configuration of ateleconference system according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the functional configuration of aserver;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the functional configuration of aterminal apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of operations performed by a server;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of operations performed by a terminal apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary group setting screen;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary group setting screen;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary volume setting screen; and

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams illustrating an exemplary image settingscreen.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the attached drawings, an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure will be described in detail below.

System Configuration

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the entire configuration of ateleconference system according to the exemplary embodiment. Theteleconference system includes a server 100 and terminal apparatuses 200used by conference participants. The server 100 and the terminalapparatuses 200 are connected to one another over a network 300. As longas the network 300 is a communication network used for datacommunication among the apparatuses so as to implement a teleconference,the network 300 is not particularly limiting. For example, the network300 may be a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or theInternet. A communication line used for data communication may be wiredor wireless. Alternatively, both a wired line and a wireless line may beused. In addition, a gateway apparatus and a relay apparatus such as arouter may be used to establish a connection among the apparatuses overmultiple networks and communication lines. As a line of the network 300or its part, a telephone line may be used.

Functional Configuration of the Server

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the functional configuration of theserver 100. The server 100 includes a receiving/transmitting unit 110, agroup management unit 120, and a data processor 130. The server 100controls communication among the terminal apparatuses 200 to support ateleconference. The server 100 may be implemented by using a singleserver machine, or may be implemented through distributed processingusing pieces of hardware. The server 100 may be implemented as aso-called cloud server on the Internet.

The receiving/transmitting unit 110 is connected to the terminalapparatuses 200 over the network 300, and receives/transmits audio dataand image data obtained by a terminal apparatus 200. The audio dataindicates audio digital data including speech sounds of the user(conference participant) using the terminal apparatus 200. The imagedata indicates digital data of moving images or still images includingan image of the user (conference participant) using the terminalapparatuses 200. In the case where the image data is a moving image, theimage data may be received/transmitted as moving image data in whichimages and sounds are combined together. The receiving/transmitting unit110 receives group setting information from a terminal apparatus 200.The group setting information is information indicating groups ofconference participants which are set by using a terminal apparatus 200.Groups and the group setting information will be described in detailbelow. The receiving/transmitting unit 110 includes a network interfacefor the server 100 establishing a connection to the network 300.

When groups are set in a conference, the group management unit 120manages the conference participants for each group which is set. In theexemplary embodiment, it is assumed that the conference participants aremanaged by using identification information of the terminal apparatuses200 used by the conference participants. That is, the terminalapparatuses 200 used by the conference participants are managed as theconference participants themselves. Hereinafter, assume that theterminal apparatuses 200 in a group represent the conferenceparticipants belonging to the group.

The group indicates a group of conference participants which is set by aconference participant and which contains a subset of all of theconference participants. One or more conference participants belong to agroup. In addition, each conference participant may belong to multiplegroups. Groups are set through an operation performed on a terminalapparatus 200. Other than an operation performed on a terminal apparatus200, for example, groups are deleted when a conference in which thegroups are set ends. The group setting operation will be describedbelow. The group management unit 120 manages the groups and theconference participants, for example, by using a method of registering,in a table in association with each other, identification information ofa group which has been set and identification information of theterminal apparatuses 200 used by the conference participants belongingto the group.

The data processor 130 refers to the group management unit 120, andadds, to audio data and image data (or moving image data in which soundsand a moving image are combined together) received from a terminalapparatus 200, the identification information of the group to which theterminal apparatus 200 having transmitted the data belongs. Hereinafter,the identification information of a group is called “group information”.

Functional Configuration of a Terminal Apparatus

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the functional configuration of aterminal apparatus 200. The terminal apparatus 200 includes a soundacquiring unit 210, an image acquiring unit 220, areceiving/transmitting unit 230, a group information holding unit 240, avolume controller 250, an audio output unit 260, an image controller270, an image display unit 280, and an operation receiving unit 290. Theterminal apparatus 200 receives/transmits, via the server 100,information from/to the other terminal apparatuses 200 participating ina teleconference. For example, the terminal apparatus 200 is implementedby using a personal computer (PC), a portable terminal apparatus, suchas a smartphone or a tablet terminal, or a dedicated terminal having aconfiguration for a teleconference.

The sound acquiring unit 210 acquires acoustic information includingspeech sounds of the conference participant using the terminal apparatus200. The acquired acoustic information is transmitted to the server 100as digital data. As the sound acquiring unit 210, for example, amicrophone provided for the terminal apparatus 200 may be used.Alternatively, audio data obtained by using a microphone providedseparately from the terminal apparatus 200 may be received by using adata transfer unit such as Universal Serial Bus (USB).

The image acquiring unit 220 acquires image information including animage of the conference participant using the terminal apparatus 200.The image may be a moving image, or may be a still image. In the casewhere the image is a moving image, for example, the sounds acquired bythe sound acquiring unit 210 are combined with the image. In the casewhere the image is a moving image, other than moving image dataaccording to a moving image format, the image may have a data structureof a time-series still image data set obtained through shooting at everydetermined time. The acquired image is transmitted to the server 100 asdigital data. As the image acquiring unit 220, for example, a cameraprovided for the terminal apparatus 200 may be used. Alternatively, animage captured by using a camera provided separately from the terminalapparatus 200 may be received through a data transfer unit such as USB.

The receiving/transmitting unit 230 is connected to the server 100 overthe network 300, and receives/transmits audio data and image data.Specifically, the receiving/transmitting unit 230 transmits, to theserver 100, audio data acquired by the sound acquiring unit 210 andimage data acquired by the image acquiring unit 220. In addition, thereceiving/transmitting unit 230 receives, from the server 100, pieces ofaudio and image data acquired by terminal apparatuses 200 used byconference participants. The receiving/transmitting unit 230 is anexemplary audio data receiving section, an exemplary image datareceiving section, and an exemplary receiving section. The acquiredpieces of audio and image data also include data having been transmittedto the server 100 by the terminal apparatus 200. When groups are set inthe conference, each piece of audio and image data acquired from theserver 100 has additional information about group information of thegroup to which the corresponding terminal apparatus 200 belongs.

When an operation of setting groups is performed on the terminalapparatus 200, the receiving/transmitting unit 230 transmits the groupsetting information to the server 100. In contrast, when an operation ofsetting groups is performed on another terminal apparatus 200, thereceiving/transmitting unit 230 receives the group setting informationfrom the server 100. The receiving/transmitting unit 230 is implemented,for example, by using a wireless communication apparatus and a networkinterface which are provided for the terminal apparatus 200.

When group information has been added to audio data and image datareceived from the server 100, the group information holding unit 240extracts the group information, and holds the extracted groupinformation in association with the terminal apparatus 200 havingtransmitted the audio data and image data. The group information holdingunit 240 is implemented, for example, by using a memory such as a randomaccess memory (RAM) and a hard disk device. The group informationholding unit 240 is an exemplary group information holding section.

The volume controller 250 controls the audio output volume for audiodata received from the server 100. The volume controller 250 controlsthe audio output volume independently for each group based on the groupinformation. The volume controller 250 controls audio output volumes, atleast such that the volume for the group, to which the user (conferenceparticipant) of the terminal apparatus 200 belongs, is different fromthe volumes for the other groups. For example, the volume controller 250makes sounds of the group, to which the user (conference participant) ofthe terminal apparatus 200 belongs, louder than sounds of the othergroups. In addition, the volume controller 250 may receive settings foraudio output volume individually for the groups. In this case, theoperation receiving unit 290 described below receives an operation ofsetting volumes, and the volume controller 250 controls volumesindividually for the groups in accordance with the received operation.This configuration enables a conference participant to set the audiooutput volume manually for each group, which is set in the conference,in accordance with the participant's preference. The volume controller250 is implemented, for example, by using an arithmetic unit such as acentral processing unit (CPU) under control using programs. The volumecontroller 250 is an exemplary audio controller.

The audio output unit 260 outputs the sounds of audio data received fromthe server 100, under control exerted by the volume controller 250. Whengroups are set in a conference, the audio output unit 260 outputs soundsin such a manner that the volume of sounds for the group, to which theuser (conference participant) of the terminal apparatus 200 belongs, isdifferent from the volumes of sounds for the other groups. For example,the audio output unit 260 outputs sounds in such a manner that thevolume of sounds for the group, to which the user (conferenceparticipant) of the terminal apparatus 200 belongs, is higher than thevolumes of sounds of the other groups. When the volume controller 250controls the audio output volumes according to the volume settings whichare set by the user (conference participant), the audio output unit 260outputs sounds at volumes which are set individually for the groups. Theaudio output unit 260 is implemented, for example, by using a speakerwhich is provided for the terminal apparatus 200 or which is connectedto the terminal apparatus 200. The audio output unit 260 is an exemplaryaudio output section.

The image controller 270 controls the display form of an image based onimage data received from the server 100. The image controller 270controls the image display form independently for each group based onthe group information. The image controller 270 controls display ofimages, at least such that the display form for the group, to which theuser (conference participant) of the terminal apparatus 200 belongs, isdifferent from the display forms for the other groups. For example, theimage controller 270 controls the display forms so that images for theother groups have visibility lower than those for the group, to whichthe user (conference participant) of the terminal apparatus 200 belongs.The method used to decrease visibility is not particularly limiting.Examples of the method may include making an image out of focus,decreasing the brightness of an image, decreasing the contrast of animage, and decreasing the saturation of an image. The image controller270 may receive settings for the image display form individually foreach group. In this case, the operation receiving unit 290 describedbelow receives an operation of setting image display forms, and theimage controller 270 controls the image display forms individually forthe groups in accordance with the received operation. This configurationenables a conference participant to manually set the image display formfor each group, which is set in the conference, in accordance with theparticipant's preference. The image controller 270 is implemented, forexample, by using an arithmetic unit such as a CPU under control usingprograms. The image controller 270 is an exemplary image controller.

The image controller 270 causes the image display unit 280 to display anoperation screen for receiving operations performed by the user(conference participant) of the terminal apparatus 200. Operationscreens are prepared in accordance with the types of operations receivedby the terminal apparatus 200. For example, a group setting screen usedfor an operation of setting groups, a volume setting screen used for anoperation of setting the audio output volume for each group, and animage setting screen used for an operation of setting the image displayform for each group are prepared.

The image display unit 280 displays the images of conferenceparticipants based on image data received from the server 100, undercontrol exerted by the image controller 270. When groups are set in theconference, the image display unit 280 displays images in such a mannerthat the display form of images for the group, to which the user(conference participant) of the terminal apparatus 200 belongs, isdifferent from the display forms for the other groups. For example, theimage display unit 280 displays images in such a manner that the displayform of images for the group, to which the user (conference participant)of the terminal apparatus 200 belongs, has visibility higher than thedisplay forms of images for the other groups. When the image controller270 controls the image display forms in accordance with settings made bythe user (conference participant), the image display unit 280 displaysimages in the display forms which are set individually for the groups.The image display unit 280 is implemented, for example, by using adisplay apparatus which is provided for the terminal apparatus 200 orwhich is connected to the terminal apparatus 200. The image display unit280 is an exemplary display section.

The operation receiving unit 290 receives an operation performed by theuser (conference participant) of the terminal apparatus 200 who uses anoperation device. The operation receiving unit 290 is implemented, forexample, by using an arithmetic unit such as a CPU under control usingprograms. As operation devices, for example, a pointing device such as amouse, a keyboard, and a touch panel are used. The image display unit280 displays an operation screen under control exerted by the imagecontroller 270. The user (conference participant) of the terminalapparatus 200 operates an operation device in accordance with anoperation screen displayed on the image display unit 280, thus enablingvarious types of input operations to be performed in accordance with theoperation screen. That is, the image display unit 280 and the operationreceiving unit 290 provide an operation unit using a graphical userinterface (GUI) to the user (conference participant) of the terminalapparatus 200. For example, when the group setting screen is displayedon the image display unit 280, the GUI receives a group settingoperation. Similarly, when the volume setting screen is displayed on theimage display unit 280, the GUI receives an operation of setting theaudio output volume for each group. When the image setting screen isdisplayed on the image display unit 280, the GUI receives an operationof setting the image display form for each group. The image display unit280 and the operation receiving unit 290 are an exemplaryvolume-setting-operation receiving section, an exemplarydisplay-form-setting-operation receiving section, an exemplary groupsetting section, an exemplary volume setting section, and an exemplaryimage setting section.

Operations of the Server

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of operations performed by the server 100. In theoperation example described below, the operations performed by theserver 100 will be described by taking, as an example, the case in whichmoving images, in which images and sounds are combined together, areused in a teleconference. When the server 100 receives group settinginformation from a terminal apparatus 200, the server 100 stores theacquired group setting information in the group management unit 120, andmanages associations between the groups and the terminal apparatuses 200(users). (S401 and S402). The server 100 distributes the managed groupsetting information to the terminal apparatuses 200 other than theterminal apparatus 200 having transmitted the group setting information(S403).

When the server 100 receives moving image data, including images andsounds, from a terminal apparatus 200, the server 100 asks the groupmanagement unit 120 whether or not there is a group to which theterminal apparatus 200 (user) having transmitted the moving image databelongs (S401, S404, and S405). When there is such a group (Yes inS405), the data processor 130 adds the corresponding group informationto the moving image data (S406). The server 100 distributes the movingimage data, to which the group information has been added, to all of theterminal apparatuses 200 participating in the teleconference (S407). Incontrast, if there is not such a group (No in S405), the server 100 doesnot add group information to the moving image data, and distributes themoving image data to all of the terminal apparatuses 200 participatingin the teleconference (S407).

As described above, the example in which moving images are used in ateleconference is described. In the case where still images and soundsare used in a teleconference, when the server 100 receives still imagedata and audio data in S404, the server 100 checks if there is a groupfor the data in S405. In S406, the server 100 adds the group informationto the still image data and audio data. In S407, the server 100distributes the still image data and audio data, to which the groupinformation has been added, to the terminal apparatuses 200.

In the case where only sounds are used in a teleconference, when theserver 100 receives audio data in S404, the server 100 checks if thereis a group for the data in S405. In S406, the server 100 adds the groupinformation to the audio data. In S407, the server 100 distributes theaudio data, to which the group information has been added, to theterminal apparatuses 200.

Operations Performed by a Terminal Apparatus

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of operations performed by a terminal apparatus200. When the terminal apparatus 200 receives group setting informationfrom the server 100, the terminal apparatus 200 stores the receivedgroup setting information in the group information holding unit 240(S501 and S502).

When the terminal apparatus 200 receives moving image data, the terminalapparatus 200 extracts the group information from the received movingimage data, and refers to the group setting information, which is storedin the group information holding unit 240, to check if there is thegroup to which the terminal apparatus 200 having transmitted the movingimage data belongs (S501, S503, and S504). If there is such a group (Yesin S505), and if the found group matches the group to which theoperating terminal apparatus 200 belongs (Yes in S506), the volumecontroller 250 and the image controller 270 of the terminal apparatus200 output the moving image at the volume and in the display form whichare set for the terminal apparatus 200's group (the group to which theoperating terminal apparatus 200 belongs) (S507). In contrast, if thefound group, to which the terminal apparatus 200 having transmitted themoving image data belongs, does not match the terminal apparatus 200'sgroup (No in S506), the volume controller 250 and the image controller270 of the terminal apparatus 200 output the moving image at the volumeand in the display form which are set for the other group (differentgroup) other than the terminal apparatus 200's group (S508). In the casewhere there are multiple different groups and where the volume and theimage display form are set for each different group individually, theterminal apparatus 200 outputs the moving image at the volume and in theimage display form which are set for the corresponding one of thedifferent groups.

If there is no group to which the terminal apparatus 200 havingtransmitted the moving image data belongs (No in S505), the volumecontroller 250 and the image controller 270 of the terminal apparatus200 output the moving image at the volume and in the image display formwhich are set for the terminal apparatus 200's group (S507). As the casein which there is no group to which the terminal apparatus 200 havingtransmitted the moving image data belongs, there are two cases: the casein which there is no group corresponding to the group informationextracted from the moving image data; and the case in which groupinformation has not been added to the moving image data. The latter caseincludes the case in which the terminal apparatus 200 having transmittedthe moving image data does not belong to any group, and the case inwhich no groups have been set.

As described above, the example in which moving images are used in ateleconference is described. In the case where still images and soundsare used in a teleconference, when the terminal apparatus 200 receivesstill image data and audio data in S503, the terminal apparatus 200extracts the group information and checks the group in S504. If thechecked group matches the terminal apparatus 200's group, the terminalapparatus 200 outputs the still images and sounds at the volume and inthe image display form which are set for the terminal apparatus 200'sgroup, in S507. In contrast, if the checked group matches a differentgroup, the terminal apparatus 200 outputs the still images and sounds atthe volume and in the image display form which are set for thecorresponding different group, in S508.

In the case where only sounds are used in a teleconference, when theterminal apparatus 200 receives audio data in S503, the terminalapparatus 200 extracts the group information and checks the group inS504. If the checked group matches the terminal apparatus 200's group,the terminal apparatus 200 outputs the sounds at the volume which is setfor the terminal apparatus 200's group, in S507. In contrast, if thechecked group matches a different group, the terminal apparatus 200outputs the sounds at the volume which is set for the correspondingdifferent group, in S508.

Exemplary Operation Screens

Operation screens used for operations on the terminal apparatus 200 willbe described. As exemplary operation screens, the group setting screen,the volume setting screen, and the image setting screen will bedescribed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary group setting screen. Inthe example in FIG. 6, the images of conference participants aredisplayed on the image display unit 280 of a terminal apparatus 200. Onthe group setting screen illustrated in FIG. 6, the images (hereinafterreferred to as participant images) Y-1 to Y-9 of nine conferenceparticipants are illustrated. Each of the participant images Y-1 to Y-9is obtained by processing an image acquired by the image acquiring unit220 of the terminal apparatus 200 of the corresponding conferenceparticipant. Among the participant images Y-1 to Y-9 illustrated in thegroup setting screen in FIG. 6, the participant image Y-5 is an imageindicating the user of the terminal apparatus 200 (the operatingapparatus) on which the group setting screen is displayed. Theparticipant image Y-5 is displayed so as to be differentiated from theother participant images Y-1 to Y-4 and Y-6 to Y-9. In the group settingscreen in FIG. 6, the participant images Y-1 to Y-9 are disposedrandomly. The arrangement of the participant images Y-1 to Y-9 on thegroup setting screen is not limited to the example in FIG. 6. Forexample, arrangement in a grid in the horizontal and vertical directionsmay be used. For example, the image controller 270 of the terminalapparatus 200, on which the group setting screen is displayed, is incharge of processing the participant images Y-1 to Y-9 and arranging theparticipant images Y-1 to Y-9 on the group setting screen.

When a group setting operation is performed in the group setting screenin FIG. 6, the conference participants are grouped in accordance withthe operation. In the example in FIG. 6, the group G-1 including theparticipant images Y-1 to Y-4 and the group G-2 including theparticipant images Y-5 to Y-9 are formed. In the group settingoperation, each of the conference participants may be allowed to begrouped into any group, or each terminal apparatus 200 may be subject toa restriction that the user (conference participant) of the terminalapparatus 200 is allowed to set only their group. As long as the groupsetting operation is an operation of partitioning the participant imagesdisplayed on the group setting screen, any operation may be employed,and a specific operation method is not particularly limiting. Forexample, a pointing device may be used to draw a line for partitioningthe participant images displayed on the group setting screen.Alternatively, a pointing device and a keyboard may be used to specify,for each group, the participant images of conference participants whoare to belong to the group.

It is assumed that, when one group is set in the group settingoperation, the conference participants who are not included in the setgroup form the other group. For example, when the group G-1 includingthe participant images Y-1 to Y-4 is set on the group setting screen inFIG. 6, the group G-2 including the remaining participant images Y-5 toY-9 is formed automatically. In the state illustrated in FIG. 6, forexample, when a group including the participant images Y-1 to Y-3 isset, a new group including only the participant image Y-4 is set.

In the example in FIG. 6, each conference participant (each of theparticipant images Y-1 to Y-9) belongs to the corresponding, singlegroup. In contrast, one conference participant may be allowed to belongto multiple groups. For example, when a new group including theparticipant images Y-2, Y-5, and Y-6 is set in FIG. 6, instead ofremoving the participant image Y-2 from the group G-1 and removing theparticipant images Y-5 and Y-6 from the group G-2, the new group may beset while the participant images belong to their original groups.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary group setting screen.In the example in FIG. 7, the group G-3 is set so as to overlap thegroups G-1 and G-2 in FIG. 6. Thus, the conference participant for theparticipant image Y-2 belongs to the group G-1 and the group G-3, andthe conference participants for the participant images Y-5 and Y-6belong to the group G-2 and the group G-3. As the volume of sounds of aconference participant belonging to multiple groups, for example, thehighest volume among the groups, to which the conference participantbelongs, is used. As the image display form for a conference participantbelonging to multiple groups, for example, the display form having thehighest visibility among the groups, to which the conference participantbelongs, is used.

The group setting screen illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 may be used as astandard screen in a teleconference because the image of each conferenceparticipant and the groups, to which the conference participant belongs,are clearly indicated. When the group setting screen is used as thestandard screen in a teleconference, setting of a new group may berestricted. In this case, when a new group is to be set, for example,the restriction of the group setting operation may be removed through anoperation using a pop-up menu so that an operation of setting a newgroup is acceptable.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary volume setting screen. Inthe example in FIG. 8, objects 281 for volume operation are displayedfor the groups G-1 and G-2, respectively. For each group, the user ofthe terminal apparatus 200 may operate the corresponding object 281 toset a desirable volume in the settable range. In the example in FIG. 8,the outer frame of the participant image of the user (conferenceparticipant) of the terminal apparatus 200 is illustrated by using abold line. That is, in the example in FIG. 8, the user of the terminalapparatus 200 belongs to the group G-2. In this case, the range of thevolume settable for the group G-1, to which the user of the terminalapparatus 200 does not belong, may be limited relative to the range ofthe volume settable for the group G-2. After groups are set, before theuser of the terminal apparatus 200 performs an operation, initialsetting may be performed so that the volume for the group (in theexample in FIG. 8, the group G-2), to which the user of the terminalapparatus 200 belongs, is higher than the volumes for the other groups.

In the volume setting screen in FIG. 8, compared with the group settingscreen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the participant images in each group aredisposed systematically. Thus, in the volume setting screen, thearrangement of the participant images may be changed so that groups, forwhich volume setting is to be performed individually, are easilyrecognized. Alternatively, while the participant images are arranged asin the standard screen used in a teleconference, an object for volumeoperation may be displayed for each group, for example, in pop-updisplay, and an operation of setting a volume may be received. Atransition from the standard screen used in a teleconference to thevolume setting screen is performed, for example, by selecting thetransition to the volume setting screen through an operation on a pop-upmenu or the like.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams illustrating an exemplary image settingscreen. FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating an object for setting thedisplay form of a participant image. FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating astate in which a different display form has been set for each group. Inthe image setting screen, for example, a group, for which the displayform is to be set, is selected on the screen as illustrated in FIG. 9B,and an object 282 for setting as illustrated in FIG. 9A is displayed.Selection of a group and display of the object 282 are performed, forexample, by specifying an appropriate position in the group by using apointing device and selecting the function through an operation on apop-up menu. In the object 282 in FIG. 9A, the display forms selectablefor a participant image are displayed, in line, with radio buttons forselection. In the example in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the second display formfrom the top is selected in the object 282 in FIG. 9A, and theparticipant images belonging to the group G-1 are displayed in theselected display form as illustrated in FIG. 9B. For example, the object282 may be displayed on the image setting screen in FIG. 9B, or may bedisplayed on the display screen of the image display unit 280, as awindow different from the display window of the image setting screen.

Similarly to the volume setting screen in FIG. 8, in the image settingscreen in FIG. 9B, the participant images in each group are displayedsystematically. Alternatively, the participant images may be arranged asin the standard screen used in a teleconference. A transition from thestandard screen used in a teleconference to the image setting screen isperformed, for example, by selecting the transition to the image settingscreen through an operation on a pop-up menu or the like. In the examplein FIGS. 9A and 9B, the outer frame of the participant image of the user(conference participant) of the terminal apparatus 200 is illustrated byusing a bold line. That is, in the example in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the userof the terminal apparatus 200 belongs to the group G-2. In this case,the selectable display forms for the participant images in the groupG-1, to which the user of the terminal apparatus 200 does not belong,may be limited relative to the selectable display forms for theparticipant images in the group G-2.

In the exemplary operations in FIGS. 4 and 5, the case in which movingimages are used in a teleconference is described as an example. Asdescribed above, still images and sounds, or only sounds, may be used ina teleconference according to the exemplary embodiment. In the casewhere moving images are used in a teleconference, a moving imagetransmitted from the terminal apparatus 200 of each conferenceparticipant is used as a participant image described by referring toFIGS. 6 to 9B. A moving image serving as a participant image is reducedin size for display so that the images of conference participants may bedisplayed on the image display unit 280 of the terminal apparatus 200.

In the case where still images and sounds are used in a teleconference,a still image transmitted from the terminal apparatus 200 of eachconference participant is used as a participant image described byreferring to FIGS. 6 to 9B. A still image serving as a participant imageis reduced in size for display so that the images of conferenceparticipants may be displayed on the image display unit 280 of theterminal apparatus 200. When a still image used as a participant imageis not transmitted from the terminal apparatus 200 of a conferenceparticipant, an image (initially-set image) specified in the initialsetting may be displayed as the participant image. In this case, ifimages for identifying individual conference participants are preparedin advance, the images may be used as initially-set images. If imagesfor identifying conference participants are not prepared, anuncharacteristic image indicating the conference participants andidentification information (such as the name and the ID) for identifyingeach conference participant may be displayed as a participant image.

In the case where only sounds are used in a teleconference, images whichindicate the respective conference participants and which are specifiedin advance in the initial setting are used as participant imagesdescribed by referring to FIGS. 6 to 9B. As long as the images indicatethe respective conference participants, any images may be used, and thetype of the images is not particularly limiting. For example, aphotograph of a conference participant may be used, and a characterimage or icon for identifying a participant may be used.

Alternatively, an uncharacteristic image indicating the conferenceparticipants and identification information (such as the name and theID) for identifying each conference participant may be displayed as aparticipant image.

The exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is described above.The technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to theexemplary embodiment described above. For example, in a most part of theabove description about the exemplary embodiment, the case in whichmoving images, in which images and sounds are combined together, areused in a teleconference is described as an example. Also in ateleconference using only sounds, the volume control described above maybe performed for each group, and control of the display form of an image(such as a still image or an icon) indicating a conference participantmay be performed for each group. In this case, the data processor 130 ofthe server 100 functions as a processor for processing audio dataacquired from a terminal apparatus 200.

The configurations of the various types of setting screens are merelyexemplary. As long as the following functions may be performed, any userinterfaces using various different configurations may be used: settingand display of groups of conference participants; volume control foreach group; and control of the image display form for each group. Inaddition, the present disclosure encompasses various changes andconfiguration replacements which are made without departing from thetechnical scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A teleconference system comprising: an audio datareceiving section that receives audio data obtained by a plurality ofterminal apparatuses of a plurality of users who participate in aconference; a group information holding section that holds groupinformation indicating a plurality of groups, the plurality of groupsbeing obtained by grouping the plurality of users of the plurality ofterminal apparatuses, any of the plurality of terminal apparatuses beingreferred to as a certain terminal apparatus, each of the plurality ofgroups including one or more users; and an audio controller thatcontrols volumes of sound output of the audio data independently for theplurality of respective groups based on the group information held bythe group information holding section, the audio data being received bythe audio data receiving section.
 2. The teleconference system accordingto claim 1, wherein the audio controller controls the volumes of thesounds of the audio data in such a manner that, among the plurality ofgroups based on the group information, a volume for a certain group isdifferent from a volume for a different group, the certain group being agroup including at least a user of the certain terminal apparatus, theaudio data being received by the audio data receiving section.
 3. Theteleconference system according to claim 2, further comprising: avolume-setting-operation receiving section that receives an operation ofsetting the volumes individually for the plurality of groups based onthe group information, wherein the audio controller controls the volumesof the sounds of the audio data for the plurality of respective groupsin accordance with the setting operation received by thevolume-setting-operation receiving section.
 4. The teleconference systemaccording to claim 3, wherein, among the plurality of groups based onthe group information, a range of settable volumes for the certain groupis different from a range of settable volumes for the different group,the settable volumes indicating volumes settable through the operationreceived by the volume-setting-operation receiving section, the certaingroup including at least the user of the certain terminal apparatus. 5.The teleconference system according to claim 1, further comprising: animage data receiving section that receives image data obtained by theplurality of terminal apparatuses; and an image controller that controlsdisplay forms of images of the image data independently for theplurality of respective groups based on the group information held bythe group information holding section, the image data being received bythe image data receiving section, and that causes a display section todisplay the images of the image data in the display forms in such amanner that a display form for a certain group is different from adisplay form for a different group, the image data being received by theimage data receiving section, the certain group including at least auser of the certain terminal apparatus.
 6. The teleconference systemaccording to claim 5, further comprising: adisplay-form-setting-operation receiving section that receives anoperation of setting the display forms of images individually for theplurality of groups based on the group information, wherein the imagecontroller controls the display forms of the images of the image datafor the plurality of respective groups in accordance with the settingoperation received by the display-form-setting-operation receivingsection.
 7. The teleconference system according to claim 6, wherein,among the plurality of groups based on the group information, a range ofsettable display forms for the certain group is different from a rangeof settable display forms for the different group, the settable displayforms indicating display forms settable through the operation receivedby the display-form-setting-operation receiving section, the certaingroup including at least the user of the certain terminal apparatus. 8.A terminal apparatus comprising: a receiving section that receives dataof sounds of a plurality of users who participate in a conference; agroup setting section that sets a plurality of groups for the pluralityof users, each of the plurality of groups including one or more users;and an audio output section that outputs the sounds of the plurality ofusers in such a manner that, among the plurality of groups being set bythe group setting section, a volume of users' sounds for a certain groupis different from a volume of users' sounds for a different group, thecertain group including at least a user of the terminal apparatus. 9.The terminal apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising: avolume setting section that enables volumes to be set individually forthe plurality of groups, after the group setting section sets theplurality of groups.
 10. The terminal apparatus according to claim 9,wherein, among the plurality of groups being set by the group settingsection, a range of settable volumes for the certain group is differentfrom a range of settable volumes for the different group, the settablevolumes indicating volumes settable by the volume setting section, thecertain group including at least the user of the terminal apparatus.